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Thursday 13 December 2012

Lord Shiva- The Powerful God





Shiva is 'shakti' or power, Shiva is the destroyer, the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godheads in the Hindu Trinity. Known by many names - Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath - Lord Shiva is perhaps the most complex of Hindu deities. Hindus recognize this by putting his shrine in the temple separate from those of other deities.

Shiva As Phallic Symbol:

Shiva, in temples is usually found as a phallic symbol of the 'linga', which represents the energies necessary for life on both the microcosmic and the macrocosmic levels, that is, the world in which we live and the world which constitutes the whole of the universe. In a Shaivite temple, the 'linga' is placed in the center underneath the spire, where it symbolizes the naval of the earth.
There are a number of mythological tales and legends surroundingLord Shiva. Here're a few popular ones:

Ganga Comes Down to Earth :

A legend from the Ramayana speaks of King Bhagirath who once meditated before Lord Brahma for a thousand years for the salvation of the souls of his ancestors. Pleased with his devotion Brahma granted him a wish. He requested the Lord to send the river Ganges down to earth from heaven so that she could flow over his ancestors' ashes andwash their curse away and allow them to go to heaven.
Brahma granted his wish but asked him to pray to Shiva, for he alone could support the weight of her descent. Accordingly he prayed to Shiva and he allowed the Ganges to descend on his head, and after meandering through his thick matted locks, the holy river reached the earth. This story is re-enacted by bathing the 'linga'.

The Tiger & the Leaves:

Once a hunter while chasing a deer wandered into a dense forest and found himself on the banks of river Kolidum when he heard the growl of a tiger. To protect himself from the beast he climbed up a tree nearby. The tiger pitched itself on the ground below the tree fostering no intention to leave. The hunter stayed up in the tree all night and to keep himself from falling asleep, he gently plucked one leaf after another from the tree and threw it down.
Under the tree was a Shiva Linga and the tree blessedly turned out to be a bilva tree. Unknowingly the man had pleased the deity with bilva leaves. At sunrise, the hunter looked down to find the tiger gone, and in its place stood Lord Shiva. He prostrated before the Lord and attained salvation from the cycle of birth and death.

Why Shiva is Worshipped in His Phallic Form:

According to another legend, once Brahma and Vishnu, two other deities of the holy Trinity, had an argument as to their supremacy. Brahma being the Creator declared himself to be more revered, while Vishnu, the Preserver, pronounced that he commanded more respect.
Just then a colossal 'lingam', known as Jyotirlinga, blanketed in flames, appeared before them. Both Brahma and Vishnu were awestruck by its rapidly increasing size. They forgot their quarrel and decided to determine its size. Vishnu assuming the form of a boar went to the netherworld and Brahma as a swan flew to the skies. But both of them failed to accomplish the self-assumed tasks. Then, Shiva appeared out of the 'lingam' and stated that he was the progenitor of them both and that henceforth he should be worshiped in his phallic form, the 'lingam', and not in his anthropomorphic form.

A Different Deity:

The actual image of Shiva is also distinct from other deities: his hair piled high on the top of his head, with a crescent tucked into it and the river Ganges tumbling from his hairs. Around his neck is a coiled serpent representing Kundalini or the spiritual energy within life. He holds a trident in his left hand in which is bound the 'damroo' (small leather drum). He sits on a tiger skin and on his right is a water pot. He wears the 'Rudraksha' beads and his whole body is smeared with ash.

The Destructive Force:

Shiva is believed to be at the core of the centrifugal force of the universe, because of his responsibility for death and destruction. Unlike the godhead Brahma, the Creator, or Vishnu, the Preserver, Shiva is the dissolving force in life. But Shiva dissolves in order to create, since death is the medium for rebirth into a new life. So the opposites of life and death and creation and destruction both reside in his character.

The Most Fascinating of Gods:

He is also often portrayed as the supreme ascetic with a passive and composed disposition. Sometimes he is depicted riding a bull called Nandi decked in garlands. Although a very complicated deity, Shiva is one of the most fascinating of Hindu gods.

The God Who's Always High!:

Since Shiva is regarded as a mighty destructive power, to numb his negative potentials he is fed with opium and is also termed as 'Bhole Shankar', one who is oblivious of the world. Therefore, on Maha Shivratri, the night of Shiva worship, devotees, especially the menfolk, prepare an intoxicating drink called 'Thandai' (made from cannabis, almonds, and milk) sing songs in praise of the Lord and dance to the rhythm of the drums

Gmail blocks use of “IIT” in usernames to remove discrimination


Mumbai. Responding to a long pending demand of Engineers’ Rights activists (a disputed subset of Human Rights activists), Gmail has decided to ban the use of ‘iit’ in its usernames as the practice was seen discriminatory towards non-IIT engineers of India.
“There is a huge population of non-IIT engineers in India, in fact, they are in majority and they are also quite talented. But their Gmail usernames causes other people to become judgmental,” Vikkas Kapoor, one of the activists explained the “discrimination” due to ‘iit’ in Gmail usernames, “People take it for granted that abc@gmail.com will be dumber than abc_iit@gmail.com!”
Vikkas claimed that last year a girl had accepted his chat request on Google Chat after he changed his username from cool_vikkas@gmail.com to vikkas.iitd@gmail.com
Some IIT users were already experiencing error while logging into Gmail
Some IIT users were already experiencing error while logging into Gmail
“Such discriminations are being promoted by Google because they are allowing such characters in the username,” he complained.
While Google agreed that such problems exist, the search engine giant cited some other reasons too for their decision to ban ‘iit’ in usernames.
“Not just the IITs, the larger engineers’ community of India had started following the trend of using college names in their mail-id. This has led to creation of extra-long usernames because of the long and complicated names private engineering colleges. It was adding strain to our servers,” a Google official told Faking News.
“We believe that by barring the IITians, we might start a new trend where engineering college students start removing the name of their colleges in their Gmail usernames,” the official hoped.
The decision has got mixed response from different sections of the society. Majority of engineers and the Left parties have given it a thumbs up, calling it a giant step toward social equality.
However, it seems that Google’s move hasn’t been welcomed in their own backyard because of many IITians working in the company. Some market analyst even fear that Google may have to pay for this in their next recruitment drive at IIT campuses.
“I don’t think these are real issues of concern for Google. Leave aside the Gmail username, a guy will change his whole name to get that hefty pay package!” an analyst provided the counterview.
The decision by Google has also been mired in political controversy as a Congress leader alleged that Google was playing favoritism politics and was trying to gather the support of huge non-IIT population of country.
“IIT population was already poached by BJP or Team Anna and now the rest are being targeted by Google! There is a clear foreign hand behind it,” a Congress leader claimed as he requested Kapil Sibal to put more restriction on Google and the IITs.
Meanwhile Google has asked all Gmail users with ‘iit’ in their username to change their email ids as soon as possible, failing which the ‘iit’ in their email ids will automatically be replaced with ‘iipm’.

Wednesday 12 December 2012

SRK given status of Chief Minister of Bollywood, will be exempted at US airports


New Delhi. In an innovative solution to the problem of Shah Rukh Khan being detained at US airports again and again, government of India has decided to accord a diplomatic status to the Bollywood actor. Shah Rukh Khan will now be recognized as the Chief Minister of Bollywood – a new state of India – and would get a diplomatic passport.
“He is already addressed as King Khan – King of Bollywood – but since India did away with Kings, Nawaabs, and Zamindaars after independence, we decided to call him the CM of Bollywood,” informed an official in the Ministry of External Affairs, who was given the special charge of taking up the SRK detention issue with US.
Shahrukh Khan
Shah Rukh Khan gestures when a journalist asked him if he, as a CM, could ban the telecast of Aamir Khan’s latest TV show Satyamev Jayate in Bollywood, his state.
While SRK has been given the status of a Chief Minister, his rights and responsibilities are not yet clear, and it’s already turning into a political controversy.
“Bollywood is a part of Mumbai, and Mumbai belongs to Maharashtra. We will not allow Bollywood to be taken away from Maharashtra,” Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray declared. Thackeray claimed that they already had a (moral) police force for Bollywood, and if at all Bollywood were to be given the status of a state, someone from Shiv Sena camp should have become the Chief Minister.
BJP too has supported Shiv Sena and has termed the move as Congress’ attempt to increase the number of Congress friendly Chief Ministers in India on a day it had to face opposition from non-Congress CMs on matter of internal security.
Not only political parties, sources say that fans and friends of Salman Khan and Aamir Khan are also angry and want the government to issue diplomatic passports to the other two Khans too.
“There were four Chief Ministers in Meghalaya just two years ago, so why can’t be there four or five CMs in Bollywood?” an Aamir Khan fan wondered.
“No, we don’t want to share the post. There should be elections and we are sure Sallu will win,” a Salman Khan fan demanded and threatened to tear off the diplomatic passport of SRK.
Even John Abraham fans believe that the special status to SRK was not needed.
The government has declined to comment on these responses, but they confirmed that SRK would be allowed to choose his own cabinet for Bollywood.
“Karan Johar could become the Home Minister while Finance Ministry could be given to Gauri Khan – SRK’s wife, who has recently produced Ra.One,” a source close to Shah Rukh Khan revealed.

Barack Obama’s credit card limit increased by Citibank


Washington, DC. His first term might have seen credit rating of the USA being downgraded by S&P, but his second term has started on a good note. Citibank has announced that it has increased the credit limit offered on the credit card held by Barack Obama by over 100 times.
“Credit limit for your Visa card XXXX XXXX XXXX 1121 has been increased” was the title of the e-mail received earlier by the US President, who threw a punch in the air after reading it on his iPhone and went on to deliver a spirited victory speech, where he declared that his best was yet to come.
Barack Obama's Credit Card
The old credit card of Barack Obama
“Either he was talking about another credit card or maybe getting that AAA credit rating back for the USA,” concluded a political expert after analyzing Obama’s speech, “But his best will come only with increased spending. This increase in credit card limit is a good move.”
Sources at White House confirm that Obama has made grand plans for his second term following this increased credit limit, which reportedly went up from 5000 USD to 500000 USD.
“Apart from pre-ordering iPhone-6, he also plans to buy an Indian kurta for himself to appear more inclusive and appealing,” confirmed a self-styled distant aide of Obama, which led to Indian news channels holding three hour long discussions on the kind of kurta Obama should wear and how it could affect the Indian textiles industry.
“He also has offers to buy land in Haryana in India and in the whole of Pakistan to celebrate his second term,” the aide further disclosed but the news channels ignored this piece of information.
While the new credit card with increased limit and a photo showing him hugging his wife will soon reach Obama’s residence, latest reports suggest that Amazon.com has cancelled a Cash-On-Delivery order for a China tea-pot placed by Mitt Romney.

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Lashkar takes responsibility for leaking the mystery of Talaash


Mumbai. Sticking to their vow of taking revenge of Kasab’s death, terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba has carried out their first attack. On Friday morning, which is also the release date of Aamir Khan’s latest murder mystery Talaash, they have leaked the name of the murderer in the movie.
“Indians value TV and Movies more than their public rights and liberties,” a statement form Lashkar received by Faking News read, “That’s why we have decided to strike where it hurts most.”
The devastating attack was carried out this morning when some people saw the name of murderer written on streets when they were out for jogging. Similar incidents were reported from all major cities across the country, which has spoilt the enthusiasm and interest of millions of people planning to watch the movie.
Indian cyberspace has also been bombarded using e-mails, Facebook posts and tweets carrying information about climax of movie. Bulk SMS system has again been misused and it spread the news like wildfire.
Aamir Khan in Talaash poster
Aamir Khan wondering if the government could arrest anyone for leaking the secret of his latest movie
“See, the social media needs to be controlled,” Kapil Sibal used this opportunity to push for online censorship even as he reiterated that there were zero losses to Aamir Khan due to the movie mystery being revealed by terrorists.
However, trade analysts confirm that the morning shows at multiplexes reported very little occupancy, as most of the people who did advance booking didn’t show up. With the spread of the revealed mystery, it’s expected that the weekend business of much awaited Aamir’s ambitious project will be very minimal.
While Sibal stuck to his zero-loss theory, he condemned this shameful act of terrorism and appealed to the citizens of the country not to get disappointed, and show the spirit that they had shown in wake of real terrorist attacks.
“The Mumbai spirit,” Sibal said, “Let us continue to tolerate and enjoy everything around us even if someone fucks with our happiness.”
Sources say that the government has also ordered an inquiry if people from Pakistan could be behind this leakage of the movie mystery. But Congress leader Digvijay Singh gave a clean chit to Pakistan and claimed that CAG Vinod Rai could be the person responsible as reports were often leaked from his office.
Meanwhile Bollywood has expressed its anger over the whole issue on Twitter. Suspense thriller directors are really blown off with this out of the box attack. Director duo Abbas-Mustan, whoseRace-2 will release next, has apparently asked for an insurance package from banks to cover their losses if terrorists strike again.

Harbhajan Singh to take part in F1 race driving his Hummer


Greater Noida. Harbhajan Singh, who was dropped from the Indian cricket team against West Indies, has decided to mark his presence in the field of sports by taking part in the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. Harbhajan Singh will be the first Formula One driver in the world to drive a Hummer SUV. Bhajji, as Harbhajan is fondly called, has reportedly been granted permission to take part in the race.
“We have allowed Harbhajan to drive his Hummer on F1 track to attract crowds,” one of the organizers of The Grand Prix of India informed, “We already had two IPL owners – Sahara India and Vijay Mallya – owning an F1 team, but we needed some star power. Harbhajan brings that to table.”
Harbhajan Singh with his Hummer SUV
He will go a long way in that Hummer
Sources suggest that Indian Grand Prix organizers were wary of losing money if the F1 race failed to attract the attention of the average Indian sports fan. Earlier the organizers had planned music concerts by Metallica and Lady Gaga before and after the race respectively, however they felt the need to do something similar during the race.
“Cricketers are back in demand after 5-0 whitewash of England,” a source explained why F1 organizers decided to let Bhajji drive his Hummer.
“Harbhajan was the cheapest option after we failed to convince Ravindra Jadeja,” the source added.
As per the planned events, Harbhajan will take part in the practice and the qualifying races, and will be allowed to take part in the final race if he performs well in the earlier rounds. While experts believe that Harbhajan will fail to qualify for the final race as his Hummer can’t match the pace of Formula One cars, Bhajji is confident to win the race.
“It’s not pace but spin that matters in Indian conditions,” Harbhajan said.
F1 organizers have refused to comment on the Indian conditions, but they are hoping that Bhajji would be able to attract crowds and garner revenues for the event. Sources inform that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has already warned the organizers that she will not tolerate any loss from the event.
“After Bhatta Parsaul incident, Mayawati is in no mood to suffer any loss over F1,” a source told Faking News, “Initially she had ordered the organizers to install ‘toll booths’ after each kilometer on the F1 track, and recover the cost from the drivers, as is usually done in UP to recover costs.”
Deeply concerned over the possibility of reputed drivers like Sebastian Vettel being beaten up to recover chanda or contributions to recover the costs, F1 organizers are believed to have come up with the idea of involving a cricketer to raise money.

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